


When We Open Our Eyes

by brictomm



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: College Student Stiles, Derek is Not a Failwolf, Derek lives in New York, Future Fic, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Not So Emotionally Constipated Derek Hale, Pre-Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Werefox Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 07:23:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12978990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brictomm/pseuds/brictomm
Summary: Derek decided it was time to go back to New York and get his life together. Three years later, he feels better than ever. That is, until he gets a call from Peter, after all these years, to say that Stiles was bitten on his campus. And, worse yet: apparently, Stiles was not a werewolf. What?Cue to Derek going back to Beacon Hills, having to deal with things he didn't want to, ever again. And, on top of that- feelings. Yes, how do you work with those, again?





	When We Open Our Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, this is my first fanfic ever.  
> Be kind? Please?
> 
> This fanfic isn't beta'd.
> 
> Also: English is not my first language, so if you see anything wrong, let me know! (but be gentle about it lmao i'm just a little bean)

His eyes opened slowly, sleepiness stamped on his face. It was still dark outside the window – so it was way before he was supposed to wake up. It took him a while to realize that his phone was the thing making noise. Not too loud, since he kept it on vibrate at night. These where different times, different from when everybody needed to keep their phones on the loudest setting, always prepared for something to go wrong. For someone to be in danger. Strangely enough, not even the low humming of the vibrations could keep him asleep. Well, it wasn’t as if he was a heavy sleeper, after all. 

Sighing, Derek turned to his side, scratching his beard with one hand, as the other went to get his phone from the nightstand. He eyerolled when he saw who was calling him. The fuck did Peter want at fucking ass o’clock? With the phone still vibrating, Derek internally debated if he should answer the call or not. His uncle hasn’t called him since the second week after he moved back to New York. It has been almost three years now. Maybe it was important, then. 

 

“What”, his voice sounded hoarse from the sleep. 

“Is this how you answer your favorite uncle after such a long time, dear nephew?”, Peter’s unmistakable sarcastic tone seemed to be quite energetic for that time of the night, even with the time zone difference. 

“You know that it is 3am here, right?”, Derek was set to make his annoyance completely clear to Peter. 

“Yes, I do know that. And I also know that you really don’t like being bothered when you’re having your beauty sleep. But, before you hang it on my face, I have to say that this is a very important call,” the bastard stopped talking for a brief second, as if to create some kind of tension. Derek swore to God: if Peter didn’t have a good reason to be calling him right now, he’d flee right back at that hell-hole that is Beacon Hills to kill is uncle one more time. And for good. “You know,” Peter continued, “The summer vacation is coming. The kids are coming back from their campuses to join their families and have a good time in the warm weather.”

“Peter, I swear to God-“

“Stiles was bitten.” His uncle interrupted him. Derek stopped. Did he hear it right? 

“What.”

“Oh! Now you care for what I have to say. I see. I always knew there was something about the two of y-“

“Peter,” Derek interrupted him this time, seating on the bed, getting as alert as he could at that moment, “Who- Are you- You’re joking, right? Do you need attention? Did you miss me this much that you’re now making up things just to get my attention?”

“Dear nephew, how I wish this was just part of my imagination. And, as much as I do miss you, from the bottom of my heart, it saddens me to say that, yes, Stiles is now part of the supernatural world. More than ever.”

There was a silence after that. Derek was totally shocked, without words. He was hoping this was just another one of Peter’s tension-building silences. However, nothing more was said. Derek let out a mixture of a grunt and a whine, frustrated.

“Well?”, he started, his voice somewhat louder than the comfortable tone for him, “Who bit him? Was it Scott? Did Stiles ask Scott for the bite? Is… Is there a rogue Alpha in the preserve? Peter, you have to talk to me! Did the bite take? His body didn’t refuse it, right? He’s… He’s small and squishy, yes, but he has potential, he could-“ out of his train of thought, he could hear Peter trying to hide his laughter. The motherfucker was seriously playing with him. “I’m going to hang up now. Bye, Peter-“

“Wait! I’m serious! Promise! It’s just- I reckon I’ve never heard you talk so much before. Got me surprised, is all. Listen, I called you to say that you need to come back. Apparently, Stiles were bitten at the campus and he is not what they expected him to be. The kids are getting kind of terrified and they don’t seem to want my help. I wonder why.” Another dramatic pause. “The McCall boy is getting so alarmed that I simply don’t know how any of them survived this long,” Peter said, mocking tone in his voice. “Now, I’ll let you go back to your sleep. Hope to hear from you soon, dear nephew.”

“Are you serious, wait up! Peter!” Derek looked at his phone’s display, seeing that Peter had already ended the call. 

The next five minutes were spent by Derek simply looking at his, now dark, phone screen. He could hear the engines in his head working, but, at the same time, he couldn’t focus on anything. Another vibration from his phone got him out of this zone and, looking down, he could see the notification of a new message from Peter, saying “Seriously, though, they need you.”

Left without any chances at getting his sleep back and with a bunch a questions on his head, Derek got out of the bed. He had a suitcase to pack, after all. 

\--

It’s not difficult to find plane tickets so abruptly when you have money to spare. His flight was at 8am. Derek got to the airport at 5am. It wasn’t as if he got much to do in New York. He wasn’t attached to anyone or anything, got money from what his parents left him, so work was not a necessity. And, well, pets were not really his thing. So, with nothing but himself to worry about, Derek packed his suitcase and got ready to go in record time. The truth was that he was getting worried. He tried to talk to Peter again, but the bastard was not answering him. Classic. 

His time at the airport lobby passed quickly, as his mind as just so confused. What did Peter mean when he said Stiles was not what they expected him to be? Did he not turn into a werewolf? How was that possible? After the Jackson fiasco all those years ago… Was Stiles a Kanima too? The two of them were annoying to the point of exhaustion but that was the only thing they had in common. Stiles certainly didn’t have the profile to be a Kanima. 

Well, how could he know? Three years passed since he came to New York. Since he saw everybody. Things were probably different now. Maybe Stiles was not the troublesome chatty teenager he met all these years ago. All of them must be different by now. Derek at least hoped so. More mature, maybe? 

Was everyone still in the pack? They all went to college, how did they manage to make the pack work even when they’re so far away from each other? Would it be okay to go to Beacon Hills without announcing himself? After all these years, maybe the pack learned some werewolf etiquette and knew how dangerous it was for Alphas to show unannounced in their territory. 

Either way, it was a good thing that he decided to leave his Camaro behind when he moved to New York. Sure, he had to leave it at the same place where Peter kept his Shelby. But if that was the price he had to pay to keep his baby safe and functioning, he was up for it. After he got out of the plane, he made his way quickly to get everything ready to pick up his car and, in less than two hours, Derek was driving into the highways of Beacon County. Again. After so many years. He tried not to think too much about it. About the nostalgia. He had to focus on his objectives to get out of this place as soon as possible and get back at his life at New York City. At least this is what he tried to tell himself as he made his way through Beacon Hills’ welcome sign and entered the town. 

Everything looked the same and different at the same time. Stores were long gone, but new ones replaced them; houses were still houses – some with another poorly done coat of paint to cover the dirty walls; the atmosphere, however, felt different. The scent of a newly made werecreature was fresh in the air and, as soon as Derek realized to whom that scent belonged to, he drove faster, swearing under his breath. 

Any doubt he could’ve had as to if the Sheriff still lived at his old house was completely gone once he saw the familiar blue Jeep parked in the front yard of the house. The Sheriff’s car wasn’t there, though. He was probably patrolling. And if he could bet, he’d say that John probably didn’t know a thing about what was happening with his son. 

He parked a few houses down, going straight to the entrance of Stilinski’s home. He didn’t even bother knocking the door. It was unlocked. Old habits die hard, as they say. Making his way in, that strong scent he got when he first entered the town got five times stronger. And, lost in his thoughts, trying to analyze the scent, he didn’t see that there was someone going down the stairs, in his direction.

“Derek? What are you doing here?”, Scott familiar voice sounded the same, but, as Derek turned back to face the boy, he did look three years older. 

“Where is Stiles? I heard he got bitten.” 

“Listen, man,” Scott’s annoyed tone was clear, “I don’t know where you heard this, but we don’t need your help. Everything is under control. And- And it’s not like you can show up, break in Stile’s house-“

“The door was unlocked.”

“What? Not the point, man! You need to go. Stiles is-“ Scott stopped talking when he heard a door opening upstairs. “Shit.”

“What the fuck is going on down there, Scott? Who is it?” Stiles voice could be heard, even if he wasn’t showing up. Was he trying to hide?

“It’s no one, Stiles, don’t come out of your bedroom!” Derek didn’t even bother talking with Scott. Eyerolling, he stormed past Scott, going to the stairs. “Hey! Derek, no! No, no, no, no!” Scott really was trying his hard, but Derek simply didn’t have the time to give a shit about him at the moment. 

“Derek? What-?” As Derek got upstairs, he could see Stiles’ head poking out of his bedroom. When Stiles saw him, he straightened himself up, closing the door behind him. 

“For fuck’s sake, Stiles, open the door!”, putting his hand on the handle, Derek tried to open the door, but Stiles was fast and had already locked it. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?! Go away!” his voice sounded enraged. The same way Scott’s voice did the first few months after he got bitten, all those years ago. From the other side of the door, he could hear Stiles swearing over his breath, and a low, crescent growl rumbling through his mouth. 

“Scott? Stiles is losing control. Why didn’t you chain him somewhere? Are you out of your damn mind or something?” Alpha red eyes blossomed through the green, watching as Scott got upstairs as well. Scott’s eyes responded by turning red as well. But they knew that was not the time for that kind of discussion right now. 

“He was- he was behaving, he was not feral until you showed up!” Scott took Derek’s place and grabbed the door handle, trying to open it. “Come on, Stiles, open the door. You’re not going to hurt anyone here. You’re safe. Come on, man…”

Slowly, the door was unlocked. 

The two alphas stormed inside, ready to contain a feral Stiles. What they found, though, was not what they were expecting. Stiles was seated on his bed, face down. His hands grabbing his knees firmly, as if he was trying to center himself. At the tip of his fingers, pointy nails were almost breaking through his skin. With shallow breaths, Stiles looked up. Derek paused for a second, transfixed with what he saw. Since the beginning, he knew Stiles wasn’t a werewolf. He didn’t smell like one. However, as he had no idea of what the boy could be, the sight of orangey-colored fur growing out of his face, partnered with beautiful, bright orange eyes got him astonished. 

“Can you guys stop looking at me like this and actually help me get back to normal? I don’t know how to do it yet and it’s getting hard to control everything.” His canines made his voice a little muffled. They were not werewolf-big. But seemed sharper. 

Scott said nothing, simply grabbed chains from a backpack on the floor and began chaining Stiles to the bed’s leg. Stiles didn’t seem happy about it, but he said nothing, seating on the floor. 

“You’re-“, Derek’s first attempt to say something was not a good one. His voice sounded hoarse because of the surprise. He cleaned his throat, trying again. “You’re a werefox.” The silence was so intense that, for a minute, Derek thought he hasn’t said that out loud. But, after looking at their faces, he realized they were just speechless. 

“Uh-“

“No,” said Stiles, pointing his clawed finger at Derek, “you don’t get to say anything about his. You simply disappear for three years, come back out of nowhere and say that I’m a fucking- I’m a werefox? How is that even possible? How can someone be so pathetic that not even after being bitten they turn into a proper werewolf?”

“Well, Jackson did it.”

“Well, yes, Scott, Jackson did it. But Jackson is actually pathetic. Also, not. The. Point!”, with that, another low growl left his body, his eyes bright with the orange gleam.

“Alright, whatever, man, we’ll get this figured out. But you have to calm down. I can’t let you out if you’re not under control. Who knows what would happen.” Scott said, getting up again and looking at Derek, “How about you? How come you know he’s a werefox or whatever? Who told you about Stiles? … Wait. Was it you? Did you bite him? Oh, my God, Derek, what the fuck?”

“Oh, Lord, have mercy.” Stiles said under his breath, eyerolling. Derek sometimes wished he could be as open about his emotions as Stiles has always been. 

“Scott, please, can we think clearly for a second, here? And, while we’re on that, let’s ask the right questions: is there a rogue alpha in the County? Where were you bitten, Stiles? Do you remember?” Ignoring everything Scott said, Derek got near Stiles, crouching and looking the boy in the eyes. The orange was so deep that it took him a while to realize Stiles has started talking. 

“… and at the party everyone was so high, and we were dancing and everyone was so smashed together I didn’t even feel it. Later I went to the bathroom to wash my face and then I saw it. Right by my shoulder,” he said, pointing with his head to his left shoulder, “I started to freak out and thought it was just me having some kind of hallucinations even though pot is not supposed to have this side effect, but you never know, right? So, after my freak out, I left the place and went to my dorm. I knew it was better if I slept it off, since at that time I just thought it was something from my head. It would not be the first time. Y’all know how it goes. So I slept. And, the other day, when I woke up, the bite mark was gone, as they always are, and I had this horrible ache, like, all over my body! But I thought, ‘hey, this is just me having my worst hangover episode ever’, so I didn’t bother thinking that I was bitten by a fucking Alpha werewolf. Was I reckless? Well, yeah, maybe. Do I regret going to the party? Not in a million years, thank you very much.” As Stiles rambled, his features turned back to normal. His hearth rate was calmer. The only thing that still needed to go away were his eyes.

“Okay, so there’s an Alpha werewolf at your campus. He bit you. At a party. And now you’re a werefox.” It seemed like Scott was repeating everything to see if it made sense. 

“Well, yes, Scott, that’s just what I said.”

“Dude! Does this mean you’re part of his pack now? Oh, no!”

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Derek started, trying to contain another Scott freak-out, “Stiles was part of your pack before we has bitten. This doesn’t change. He will feel the pull once he gets in contact with his maker, but other than that, nothing has changed. And we don’t even know if the Alpha who bit him want him in his pack, for starters.”

“Yeah, as if I was going to leave our pack, bro!”

“When was this party, Stiles?”, Derek asked.

“Uh, like, two days ago? Why?”

“You do realize there’s a full moon tonight, right?”

“… Well. I’m not a werewolf. How does it matter to me? Shouldn’t I be immune to the moon’s pull?”

“I don’t think so. All werecreatures experience it. Some more intensely than others, yes. But still.” Derek shrugged. 

“That’s just great. I’ll be chained to my bed the whole night. And our AC is not even working!” with a whine, Stiles banged his head to the mattress, looking up.

“Dude,” said Scott, “you know that if I could, I would stay with you here, right?”

“You’re not on summer vacation yet?”, Derek asked.

“Not for another week. This is the worst!”

“It’s ok, Scott, I’ll find a way. I always do, don’t I?”, Stiles closed his eyes.

“I’ll stay with you.” Derek’s voice was very low, as if he was making a confession. 

“…What?”, said the two other boys, looking surprised at the other wolf.

“You two heard what I said. I have nothing to do at home. Also, I don’t want you to be alone in a full moon night, Stiles. It could be dangerous.”

“He’s got a point, man.”

“Are you kidding me, Scott? I don’t wanna be stuck with him for a whole night! What the fuck! Derek, we’re not helpless teenagers anymore. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, just like you did when a werewolf bit you when you were too high to function.”

To that, Scott gave a little giggle, “Well,” he said, “I’ll have to go now. It’s almost five o’clock and I have to get back home before mom notices that I left.” He goes to the other side of the bedroom, grabbing his backpack. “If anything happens, give me a call. I’ll keep my phone with me.”

As Scott passed the two of them, and got behind Derek, he mouthed a ‘good luck’ to Stiles, who simply gave him his middle finger. As for Derek, he was as confused as ever. 

After a minute or so, Scott was closing the front door (and locking it, since he had one spare key). Now, with the two of them alone there, the silence was much more awkward. Even with them having so many questions to ask. The three years that passed really made a difference in their… friendship? Acquaintanceship? Huh, well, that sure was a problem. 

“So!”, started Stiles, always up for some talking, “How about you get me out of these chains? I’m better now. I don’t feel like I’m going to kill somebody anytime soon.” As he said that, he balanced his wrists, getting Derek’s attention to the crinkle that the chains were making.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to be seating in Stiles’ old bed. It felt too much like the old times, when Stiles was an anxious teenager full of questions and curiosity and Derek the always-broody werewolf, tired of all those kids ruining his life. Did anything change, after all? 

“Um- so… How- how’s life back at the Big Apple?”

Chuckling, Derek looked at Stiles with humorous eyes. “You know that no one calls New York like this for real, right?” 

“Well, sorry for trying to start a conversation, big guy. I just thought that after three years you could have something interesting to say. You’ve never been the one to talk too much. That has always been my role, hah, you know. But, I mean, you seem to be happy? Happy…ier? Like, more open? It seems easier to talk to you.”

Well, Derek surely didn’t wake up this morning to have emotional convos with just-turned-werefox Stiles Stilinski. What is his life right now?

“I’m better, yes. It was good going back to New York after all these years back here. It seemed like the best time to do so, since nothing was going on back here and no one seemed to need me for anything other than to bother me. So…” He shrugged, “Yeah.”

“Wow, so you just decided it was the best time and didn’t even think it would be a good idea to let us know you were gone? I mean, we had to discover it from Peter, five weeks later. He sounded as stuck-up as ever when he said you were not here anymore and Scott had Beacon Hills all to himself. It was awful, really.”

Sighing, Derek turned to look directly to Stiles, starring at his face. “It’s not like I owe any of you anything? After Erica and Boyd, and Isaac with Scott… There was no place for me here. I had my life at New York before I came back to Beacon Hills all those years ago. I just thought it was the best time to sort my life back.”

“Sort your life back…” Stiles repeated, getting away from Derek for a bit, leaning against the headboard of his bed and holding his knees in his arms. “I feel like I owe you an apology for turning your life upside down?” 

He looked so small like this, just like any recently-turned were did. But it just seemed different, for some reason. “This is not what I meant, Stiles. You’re not guilty for anything that happened in the-“

“Well, yes, but if I wasn’t so nosy and dragged Scott with me to the preserve to see a dead body, nothing of this would be happening right now. I know what I did. And I’m sorry for it.” He pulled his face down, hiding it in the middle of his legs. 

Derek didn’t respond. Stiles had a point. But still. Was he sorry for everything? Did he wish that nothing of that had happened? Derek sometimes thought of that as well. How things could’ve been different. And, yet, at the same time, living in Beacon Hills, with the Nemeton being the radar for the supernatural as it is, maybe some time or another something was meant to happen. 

Still. So much actually happened. Not just to Derek or to Beacon Hills. Or to Erica and Boyd. Stiles also suffered from it. What the Nogitsune did to Stiles probably still made the boy have nightmares sometimes. 

“Oh,” Derek said, getting up from the bed in a very unlikely manner for him. Whatever, he just made a discover, let the guy live.

Stiles looked up, his eyes tired and sad from the conversation they just had. “What, now?”

“It’s actually obvious that you’re a werefox. I’d be surprised if you actually turned into a werewolf.” 

“Um, I don’t think I follow your train of thought, Derek…?”

“Stiles. The Nogitsune.”

It is amazing how just a few words can change someone’s mood. Stiles went from low-key annoyed to plain devastated. His eyes gleamed orange and he shrunk once more, hiding his face. Still, Derek was a werewolf. He could smell the taste of the tears that rolled out of the boy’s eyes. Maybe that was the first time Stiles took time to cry about what had happened. After all, he was always so keen on staying human. He was the boy who ran with the wolves. Now he didn’t even have this for himself.

“Maybe you should go? I’ll be alright. I promise. I won’t even leave my room. Just- I need to be alone for a second.” His voice was weak, trembling as he spoke.

“Stiles, I’ll not let you alone in the night of the full moon. I’ll go downstairs, though. If you need anything, just call me.”

Derek got out of the room, closing the door behind him and went down the stairs. It was strange for him. To be this patient with someone. But even he knew how sensitive this topic was for Stiles.

Downstairs, he went straight to the kitchen. He didn’t have anything to eat since the airplane soggy meal. Stiles probably wouldn’t mind if he made himself a sandwich. And, as he was an actual soft werewolf in the inside, he made a sandwich for Stiles as well. He knew the boy probably hadn’t had anything significant to eat in a really long time. The wolf made sure to take his time preparing the sandwiches, sometimes unintentionally, since he had to discover where Stiles kept the ingredients. However, his main reason was to give Stiles some time to cry out his feelings alone. 

After about twenty minutes, Derek was too famished to wait any longer. He brought the sandwich plates upstairs and opened Stiles’ bedroom door slowly, not exactly knowing what to expect. 

Stiles was in the exact same spot. The only difference was that, now, he was lying down, facing the wall. Derek took a deep breath and made his way inside, closing the door behind him and sitting at the end of the bed. 

“Stiles, I- uh… I made you a sandwich. I just thought it would be good for you to eat something. For tonight, you know.” He passed the plate to Stiles, setting it in front of the boy, who was still lying down. 

There was nothing he could do if Stiles didn’t eat the sandwich. So, he began to eat his one, looking at Stiles’ silhouette. Again, the boy looked so small in that position. He could’ve swore that he got a little bit bigger since the last time he saw him three years ago. And now, Derek almost wanted to put a blanket over his body and let the boy rest. What a disaster. 

Derek ate alone for some time, before Stiles got up and sat again, grabbing his plate. He was eating without any enthusiasm or interest, so different from his normal self, as Derek remembered. But at least he was eating, so that was good. 

“It’s just…” the boy said, after finishing the first half of his sandwich, “After everything the Nogitsune did to me, after what it made me do… I thought I was free from it. But of course, something just needs to go wrong with me, this is just how it works.” We shrugged, talking with his mouth full of bread. 

“You’re not less of a werecreature because you’re not a werewolf. I know this is more than that. But I don’t think being sad about it will solve your problem. And, to be honest, I always had the suspicion you’d turn into a werefox if you ever got turned. Not because of the Nogitsune, but your personality… You’ve always been the mischievous one, you do things your own way… I don’t know. It just fits.” Derek made sure to not be looking at Stiles while he said that, too afraid to see what he would find. 

Stiles was silent for some time, just munching on his sandwich. Until he chuckled softly, stretching his leg and giving Derek a little kick in his thigh, getting his attention. 

“So, you’ve thought of what kind of werecreature I’d turn if I was bitten? Really, dude?”

At this, Derek straightened himself up, looking at the other side of the room, trying so hard not to have eye contact with the other boy. “Shut up, Stiles.”

“Aw, come on, sourwolf! You really thought of me? Did you want me in your pack as one of your wolves? Hey, you’re smiling? Smiling actual smiles? What the fuck! Derek Hale is smiling on my bed! What are the odds!” Stiles got up, walking on his knees until he was closer to Derek, trying to see better the shy smile creeping the older guy’s face. 

“Shut the fuck up, Stiles, go eat your fucking sandwich. Leave me alone.” Derek turned even more, turning his back to Stiles and crossing his arms. 

“Oh, my God! You were really smiling! Did I say something funny? What did I do to make the sourest of the sourwolves smile? I have to know so I can do it again, come on! Tell me!” 

The boy started poking Derek on his ribs, so, with a grunt, Derek rolled back to be facing Stiles again. “Alright, whatever. If I tell you, will you leave me alone?”

“Yes, yes! I promise!”

Seeing that this would cheer Stiles up a little bit, Derek gave in, “It’s… It’s been such a long time since I heard someone calling me ‘sourwolf’. I don’t know. It felt good?”

“O-oh… Yeah, uh- you’re welcome?” Okay, good. Now Stiles was uncomfortable. 

Feeling like he needed to do something about all of this, Derek got closet to Stiles, looking him in the eyes, getting his total attention. Even if he wasn’t, he felt like he was guilty for making Stiles sad. He had to make up for it. “Listen,” he started, voice trembling a little bit, as if he already knew this’d be extremely embarrassing for the both of them, “I know you must be scared. I know this is going to be your actual first night as a werefox and, on top of that, tonight is a full moon night. But I’m here. I said I would keep an eye on you and I am. And we’re going to go through this together. You don’t have to be afraid of yourself. We’ll find you an anchor and you’ll get back to your campus and be the normal Stiles everyone knows, no were-troubles involved.”

Yes. That was as embarrassing as he thought it would be. How all those words came out of his mouth, again? Since when was he able to comfort somebody? As Derek self-questioned himself about his sanity, Stiles was frozen. He was looking at Derek as if he had never seen his face before. As the silence started to build up, Derek’s will to just get up and never come back was getting stronger. He was almost getting up when Stiles finally said something. Or, better yet, when he finally made a sound, because what came out of his mouth was the biggest shriek-followed-by-laughter he had ever seen the boy giving.

“Hold on! Hold on a second!”, Stiles said, trying to contain his giggles, “Did you seriously just said ‘were-troubles’? Dude! I have to text Scott that! This is precious! Golden! Where is my cellphone? God, that was great!”

“Stiles,” Derek grabbed his wrist, getting Stiles’ attention back to himself. “From all the things that I said, this is all you bothered to keep in your head? Really?” Seriously, did he make all this effort to say something good and assuring just for this boy to make fun of him?

“Of course not, sourwolf.”, the boy paused, opening a kind smile and looking straight through Derek’s green eyes. “Thank you. I know I can trust you to try and make everything better.”

And that was what made Derek’s heart actually skip a beat. After all these years, Stiles still trusted him. After him leaving without saying anything, after three years without them knowing anything from each other. They still trusted one another. 

Suddenly, going through the full moon with a newly turned werefox seemed the easiest task in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Lemme know what you think of it! 
> 
> Thank you for reading this!


End file.
